An important scenario in communication networks that implement Standards such as IEEE 802.11 HEW is that of dense deployment of APs (access points), e.g. in stadiums, shopping malls, and conference halls. In such applications, co-channel interference among access points is a major issue.
Conventionally, in such networks the channel assignment has been carried out using the method of Least Congested Channel Search (LCCS). In LCCS, each AP autonomously searches for the most lightly loaded channel, e.g., the channel with the fewest number of wireless clients. To achieve this, an AP first scans each channel for distinguishable beacons published by neighbouring APs. Since each beacon contains information such as the number of wireless clients associated with each AP, the AP then determines from each beacon how many clients are associated with each AP. After scanning all available channels, the AP knows how many clients are associated with each channel, and will choose to operate on the channel with the fewest number of associated clients.
There are known limitations of LCCS. For example, LCCS may fail to account for situations in which clients associated with different access points interfere with each other, whilst their respective access points do not interfere among themselves. In addition, channel re-use based on client distribution is not optimized in LCCS.